by John Soltes | November 30, 2020
The Geffen Playhouse, which has been appropriately renamed the Geffen Stayhouse during these COVID-19 days, has found such great success with their boundless creativity during a time when sitting in a theater with fellow patrons is a dangerous activity. Rather than canceling everything and waiting for the storm to subside, the intrepid theater in Los Angeles has taken their theatricality to a global audience via special presentations on Zoom. The results — everything from the magic show The Present to the puzzle show Inside the Box — have been uniformly excellent.
Their latest offering is Citizen Detective, an ingenious play featuring a true-crime tale, one in which the audience members take on the role of master sleuth. Joining the theatergoers on this journey is Mickie McKittrick (Mike Ostroski), a gumshoe detective and true-crime writer. He leads the 90-minute Zoom presentation, which serves as a reexamination of the clues involving an unsolved murder in 1920s Hollywood. It’s best to keep the specifics of the case a secret, otherwise the fun and revelations would be spoiled.
McKittrick, as a character, feels like something cooked up by Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. Ostroski plays him as a dedicated, bookish detective who encourages the 25 Zoom members to follow in his footsteps as they head down some twisty rabbit holes. Paloma Nozicka turns up as an energetic true-crime aficionado who is trying to help the audience figure out where the breadcrumbs might lead.
Of the Geffen’s online offerings so far, Citizen Detective feels like the most interactive. There’s a time when members are placed in breakout rooms, and they have a chance to engage with fellow theatergoers about possible theories and clues. There’s also some pre-performance reading and sleuthing that is expected, but it feels less like homework and more like a ticket for full immersion (this reviewer was so impressed he immediately bought a suggested book about the real true-crime case that inspired the evening).
Kudos to Chelsea Marcantel, writer and director, who has expertly crafted an evening of mystery and comedy. Although murder is at the center of the narrative, nothing is too dark, and there are many light-hearted moments throughout the performance. This being live theater — and live Zoom theater, to boot — technology is key and a participatory audience is necessary. At this reviewer’s performance, the technology was perfect, and transitions between speakers and breakout rooms were seamless (credit must be given to the Geffen’s shadow crew who work behind the scenes to ensure everything flows nicely). The audience at a recent performance was also willing to have some fun and go deep with the material (although one can definitely see some audiences being better than others). Note to readers: Have fun with the experience, and it’ll be worth the ticket price.
Most impressively, Citizen Detective takes some unexpected turns. It turns out that McKittrick has more than a few secrets up his sleeve, and the audience members who join him for the investigation are the beneficiaries of his mysterious musings. Citizen Detective is a fun, engaging night of interactive theater that will furrow the brow, slap the knee and keep people on their toes.
Citizen Detective, written and directed by Chelsea Marcantel, stars Mike Ostroski and Paloma Nozicka. Performances have been extended through Feb. 7. Running time: 90 minutes. Tickets: $65. Click here for more information and tickets.
